3,4-Dihydroxybutyl-1-phosphonate, an analogue of glycerol 3-phosphate, inhibits the growth of Escherichia coli and dramatically alters phosphoglyceride metabolism. The present proposal is designed to examine the metabolism of this analogue and to determine its mode of inhibition. During the coming year we will (1) synthesize (C14) analogue, (2) examine the metabolism of labeled analogue, (3) determine whether cells treated with analogue have an increased sensitivity to detergents, (4) test the phosphonic acid analogue of lysophosphatidic acid to determine whether it is a substrate monoacyltransferase, (5) examine phosphoglyceride synthesis after removal of 3,4-dihydroxybutyl-1-phosphonate from a culture of E. coli, and (6) examine the effect of analogue on phosphoglyceride metabolism of B. subtilis. BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES: Tang J.C., Tropp, B.E., Engel, R., Rosenthal, A.F. Isosteres of Natural Phosphates. 4. The Synthesis of Phosphonic Acid Analogues of Phosphatidic Acid and Acyldehydroxyacetone Phosphate (1976) Chemistry & Physics of Lipids. In Press.